The Art of Career Growth

Charity Channel Summit 2011

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Your Partner in Dialogue (and why me…)

Heather Burton

• Product Marketing Director w/Sage

• Board, BookSpring Past president, held officer roles for 4+ yrs

Responsible for performance evaluation process, staff dev.

• 10+ years working for/with nonprofits United Way, Hospice, Social Service Agency

• Charity Channel Chapter Author “All A-Board”

• Special interest in leadership and developing people

• Favorite food: Pizza (unfortunately)

• Twitter handle: @heathermburton

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Who I work for…

Over 32,000 Unique Not-For-Profit Customers in North America

6.2 Million Customers Worldwide

3rd largest ERP solution provider to businesses worldwide

The Sage Group, plc. (London: SGE.L)

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“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t

be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s

thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own

inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart

and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to

become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs

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I want to…

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Remember that your pasture is

greener to someone than it is to you

…and vice versa

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Who’s in the room?

Is a boss? (paid employees or volunteers)

Might want to be a boss?

Needs a new boss?

Wants to be your own boss?

Leaders and

managers are not the

same. One difference

is leaders truly

care about your

career growth

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Job Market

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Employees polled that trust management less

than they did in 2010

Employees polled that believe their

company/organizational leaders are ethical and honest

Employees polled that trust management to

make the right decision in times of uncertainty

Turnover directly related to an unsatisfactory

relationship with one’s boss2

25%

1 2011 Employee Engagement Poll by Maritz Research, 2 Saratoga Institute Research

14%

10%

80%

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Now is a

brilliant time

to “disrupt

yourself”

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Interests and Values

What are your professional interests and values?

• For example, what types of projects do you enjoy, are you motivated by compensation? By increased responsibility?

What are your lifestyle needs?

• For example, limited or no travel, set work schedule, etc

Created from Harvard ManageMentor

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Dispair.com

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The most effective leaders always

invest in strengths.

The most effective leaders

surround themselves w/ the

right people and then maximize their team.

The most effective leaders

understand their followers needs

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Focusing on

what you suck at,

sucks…..

Impact of Strengths-Focus on Disengagement

Focus on Strengths Focus on Weaknesses

22 of 100

disengaged

1 of 100

disengaged

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Survey Says….

If your leader/peer

primarily:

Your chances for

disengagement are:

Ignores you 40%

Focuses on your weaknesses

22%

Focuses on your strengths

1%

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Why Bother with Strengths?

Using my strengths…

• I’m good at what I do

• My work is energizing

• I look forward to my job

• Time goes quickly

• I’m enjoyable to be around

• I treat customers, co-workers, friends well

Outside my strengths…

• I don’t excel at my work

• My work is tiring

• I dread my job

• Time drags on

“A strength isn't something you're good at and a weakness isn't something

you're bad at. A strength is something that strengthens you and a

weakness is something that weakens you.”

– Marcus Buckingham

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Gain or Drain?

1) I feel strong when…

2) I feel drained when…

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Talent vs. Perception

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Talent Formula

Talent (a natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving)

x

Investment (time spent practicing/developing your skills, and building your

knowledge base)

=

Strength (ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance)

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Misguided Maxim

Guided Maxim

“You can be anything you

want to be, if you just try

hard enough.”

“You cannot be

anything you want to

be – but you can be a

lot more of who you

already are.”

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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GROUP DISCUSSION

•Tell about a time when you had a chance to do something you were

good at. How was it different than working against a weakness of

yours?

•Give an example of a time when you worked on something and had

the right skills and knowledge, but lacked the talent needed.

In groups of 2 - 4, discuss the following:

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Just because you are

good at something, it

doesn’t mean you want

it for a career

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With that lens

What do you believe are your top 5 strengths?

• For example, those that you have the most proficiency or enjoy the most

What are strengths you’d love to take to another job?

• For example, writing, analytics, learning, etc

Created from Harvard ManageMentor

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You may be surprised…

Management guru Peter Drucker said:

“Most Americans do not know what their strengths

are. When you ask them, they look at you with a

blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject

knowledge, which is the wrong answer.“

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Strength Themes • Achiever

• Activator

• Adaptability

• Analytical

• Arranger

• Belief

• Command

• Communication

• Competition

• Connectedness

• Consistency

• Context

• Deliberative

• Developer

• Discipline

• Empathy

• Focus

• Futuristic

• Harmony

• Ideation

• Includer

• Individualization

• Input

• Intellection

• Learner

• Maximizer

• Positivity

• Relator

• Responsibility

• Restorative

• Self-assurance

• Significance

• Strategic

• Woo

Source: Gallup Organization; StrengthsFinder 2.0

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Vision for your

future

2 Your

interests

and values

Your strengths

and skills

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Tell everyone!

People can’t

help you

achieve your

vision if they

don’t know

what it is…

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Strategic Patience

Be confident in the vision

Be flexible with the path

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The right leader…

…can look like the oddest of pairings

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Sometimes

you just have

to be brave

enough to

jump…

…but be smart

enough to be

prepared

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Be Bold…

Be Brave…

Believe in Yourself…

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THANK YOU!